Warming Up With Smart Snacks

As the temperature drops, the urge to snack rises. Keep these healthy tips and recipes on hand.

Snacks are important for active and growing kids. Since your child has a relatively small stomach, she may not be able eat enough calories at one sitting to last five hours until the next meal, so about 20% of her daily calories might be consumed as snacks.

When the days get chilly, your housebound child may have a stronger urge to snack. To help her eat healthy this winter, keep these snacking tips in mind and check out our recipe ideas.

Strive for FiveGovernment and health agencies encourage all Americans (of every age) to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. To reach this goal, keep a variety of fruits on hand (fresh or canned in juice or light syrup) and combine vegetables with a food or flavor your child likes: celery and peanut butter, low-fat cheese melted on broccoli, carrots grated into oatmeal cookies.

Break Out the Baking PanMaking cookies, muffins, and other sweets from scratch is worth the extra effort. You control the amount of sweetener; you can reduce the sugar in most standard recipes by 25% without sacrificing flavor. Also, try substituting applesauce for oil or low-fat yogurt for sour cream.

leftover chicken or turkey cut into strips with a side of light teriyaki sauce.

Serve with lots of napkins!

Sneak It InOf course, you don't want to force your child to eat something she hates, but you might be able to slip a few extra vitamins to her diet by adding vegetable-rich bean salsa to chips. Other ideas: place thin slices of zucchini and squash under pizza cheese, or add cauliflower to mashed potatoes.

Be a Role ModelYour child is more likely to eat fruits and vegetables, drink milk, and limit sweets if she sees you enjoy these healthy practices.

RecipesCooking with your child gives you the chance to teach her how to control what she eats in a healthy way. It is also a great time to practice following directions, counting, measuring, readingand cleaning up! Here are some recipes kids can help make.

Carrot-Oatmeal CookiesPacked with flavor and vitamins, these cookies are delicious with hot apple cider after an afternoon playing in the snow.

What you need:

nonstick vegetable spray

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

2 egg whites

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 cup nonfat dry milk

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup grated carrots

1 1/4 cups instant oatmeal

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

walnuts (up to 1/2 cup; optional)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat 2 cookie sheets with nonstick vegetable spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together oil, brown sugar, molasses, and egg whites